The Twelve Days Of Christmas
by Darkened-Storm
Summary: It's Christmas time, a holiday shared by beybladers from around the world. 3 continents, 5 teams, many gifts, carols, holiday cheers, mistletoe, a little romance and 12 days of Christmas.
1. December 19th

**The Twelve Days of Christmas**

**by Darkened-Storm**

**Summary:** It's Christmas time, a holiday shared by beybladers from around the world. Max is in America with Judy and hopes to fit in with the All Starz while Kai is in Russia with the Blitzkrieg Boys avoiding any mention of the word 'Christmas'. Tyson and Daichi seem to do more arguing than decorating and Enrique is in Rome, doing as Enrique does, planning the biggest New Year's Party any of the beybladers have ever seen.

3 continents, 5 teams, many gifts, carols, holidays cheers, mistletoe, a little romance and twelve days of Christmas.

**Characters: **Tyson, Hilary, Max, Ray, Daichi, Hiro, Kenny, Mariah, Enrique, Julia, Oliver, Kai, Tala, Brooklyn, OC, OC and more.

**Pairings:** To tell you know would be to give away the ending... and apparently it's not a good idea to do that.

* * *

**December 19**

_It's the most wonderful time of the year__  
__With the kids jingle belling__  
__And everyone telling you "Be of good cheer"__  
__It's the most wonderful time of the year__  
__It's the hap-happiest season of all__  
__With those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings__  
__When friends come to call__  
__It's the hap- happiest season of all_

**Bakuten, Japan**

**The Granger Family**

"Daichi!" Mariah exclaimed, her amber eyes narrowing as she stomped into the living room, brandishing a wooden cooking spoon. "What did you do with the candy canes?"

Mariah Wong was exhausted. She'd been shopping for Christmas presents all afternoon. There were only seven sleeps until Christmas Day and she still hadn't brought half of the presents she was supposed to have brought. Of course, there was only so much shopping you could get done with Daichi latched on your arm.

The little tyke had taken somewhat of a liking to her since she'd arrived in Japan only a few days ago. Joining Ray on his most recent travels around the world, the two White Tigers had found themselves in Japan with Tyson and his friends for Christmas.

Mariah had already sent Christmas cards home to Lee, Kevin and Gary (she'd wanted to make sure they got there on time) but she still had so much more to do. There was the Christmas Lunch to prepare, presents to wrap (of which she had hidden under her bed in Hilary's apartment, far from the stray fingers of Tyson and Daichi) and Christmas cookies to bake. The tree had only just arrived (Hiro had threatened not to get one if Tyson and Daichi couldn't get along) and the candy canes Mariah had brought to hang on the tree were missing.

And she knew the most probable culprit.

Daichi looked up from his seat by the fireplace where he was watching the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. "Why are you asking me?" he cried out in mock horror. "I didn't touch them."

Sitting across the room with a mug of hot cocoa and reading a very thick novel, Daisy Summers-Granger looked thoughtful. "Why would Daichi have anything to do with the missing candy canes?" she asked. She absentmindedly rubbed her very large tummy, inside which her baby girl currently resided.

"Because Tyson's been with me for the last three hours," Hiro said, as though that explained everything.

And in certain ways, it did. If Tyson had been busy helping his older brother pick out a Christmas tree, he couldn't possibly have had time to steal Mariah's candy canes, and Daichi, who had been home all afternoon watching Christmas movies (that were really intended for five year olds') had plenty of opportunities to eat them all and dispose of the evidence.

Tyson Granger grinned, rubbing the bridge of his nose smugly as he looked down at his teammate. "Looks like somebody got caught with their hand in the cookie jar," he said.

Daichi scowled. "Keep it up and I'll glue your hand to the cookie jar, Tyson," he muttered. Mariah watched the bickering teammates, somewhat amused.

"Guys, don't start arguing."

The oldest Granger son wiped the sweat from his brow and stood back to admire his own handy work. Their Christmas tree stood in front of the window, its tallest branch just touching the ceiling; he'd told Tyson it would be too big!

"What do you think?" he asked his wife.

Daisy lowered her novel, her ocean blue eyes peeking out from over the top of the book. "I think you need to move it a little over to the left," she told him with a small smile.

Together, though still not without difficulty, Hiro and Tyson shifted the tree to the left. Hiro looked back at his wife. "Better?"

Daisy shook her head. "Nuh-uh," she muttered. "Not _that _much. Move it back just a little bit."

Tyson raised an eyebrow at his older brother, who looked as though he very much wanted to say something to his wife, but thought better of it. Instead, he sighed and turned back to the tree, looking at Tyson expectantly.

"Whipped," Tyson muttered under his breath with a grin.

"Shut up Tyson and help me move the damn tree..."

"Hey, guys, someone's at the door," Daichi announced, helping himself to more Christmas candy.

Mariah stifled a giggle and left the room to open the door for Hilary, Ray and Kenny who walked in, their arms laden with many shopping bags. Tyson poked his head into the kitchen.

"What's all that?" the world champion asked.

"Christmas supplies," Hilary explained, placing the bags down on the kitchen counter. "I thought you know, there's going to be a lot of people, and you and Daichi eat enough to feed a small army between the two of you..."

"We just didn't want to make another trip out," Ray interrupted, seeing that Tyson was about to argue the he didn't eat _that_ much. "The shopping centres are murder around this time of year."

Hilary looked flushed. "Yeah, that," she said.

"We also brought some decorations for the tree since you and Daichi broke all the old ones when you were throwing them at each other," Kenny said, pushing back his glasses, which were sliding off the end of his nose as he struggled with the bags. He looked around expectantly.

"Speaking of which, where is the Christmas tree?" he asked.

"Hiro just brought it home," Mariah told him. "It's in the lounge."

Kenny nodded and headed into the next room with a bag, brimming with tinsel. Hilary followed him, a look of determination on her face. "Oi, Tyson, stop eating and come help us decorate."

Tyson pulled a face and closed the door to the fridge, from which he'd been attempting to sneak a nice Christmas treat while Mariah's back was turned. "Why me?" he demanded.

Hilary glared at him. "Because I said so."

"But I – ouch, not the ears!" Tyson exclaimed as Hilary reached over to pinch his ear. He danced out of the way just in time. "Alright, alright, I'll help you."

Ray looked over to Mariah, smiling at her. "It looks like it's going to be a wonderful Christmas," he said to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. The pink haired girl looked away, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks.

"Oh definitely," she agreed. "If those two ever stop arguing."

"We'd need one hell of a Christmas miracle for that to happen," Ray mused.

Mariah giggled and settled back into her boyfriend's arms. _Yes,_ she thought to herself. It would be a wonderful Christmas.

_There'll be parties for hosting__  
__Marshmallows for toasting__  
__And caroling out in the snow__  
__There'll be scary ghost stories__  
__And tales of the glories of__  
__Christmases long, long ago__  
_

* * *

**Enrique Tornatore and Steph Summers**

**Rome, Italy**

Christmas was coming. The evening of the 19th of December found a quaint little mansion in Rome covered in tinsel and Christmas lights. Inside, the suits of armour had been decorated, streamers of holly and mistletoe hung from the ceilings along the vast corridors. The tinsel had been hung on the tree, the presents were wrapped and hidden from the prying eyes of cousins with sticky fingers. All was well, and the house seemed to be orderly and calm –

"Bianca, wait – I meant to say you were wicked pretty, not pretty wicked – "

_SLAM!_

Damn, spoke too soon.

Steph Summers sighed to herself as she added yet another shiny Christmas bauble to the Christmas tree. She'd chosen a stunning silver fir tree because it was native to southern Italy and she was feeling particularly traditional around this time of year. Digging out the Christmas tree decorations from hurricane wreckage that was her Zio Antonio's attic had proved an interesting challenge – she was pretty sure she'd cleared out more than her fair share of dust bunnies for the holidays.

"The Italian Stallion gets shut down ... again," she muttered, downing the last of her hot chocolate and turning her attention back to the Christmas tree, just as her older cousin, Enrique, trudged into the lounge room and threw himself down on the sofa opposite the fireplace rousing Caesar, the giant golden Labrador from his slumber.

A stranger might not have guessed that the two were related. Where she was rather small, with long dark hair and brown eyes, Enrique was tall, with pale, wavy blonde hair that fell just over his ears. Absentmindedly, the Italian teen reached a hand down to scratch Caesar behind the ears.

"Another disastrous date?" Steph asked tentatively. She dodged the stray bauble he tossed in her direction with little effort. Caesar scampered after it and scooped it up in his mouth and returned it to Steph.

"Shut up," Enrique grumbled.

Poking a face at her cousin, Steph wiped the doggy drool off the bauble and hung it on the tree. Once she was certain the ornament wouldn't slip off the tree and break on the newly polished floorboards, she stood back to admire her work.

"What do we think?" she asked, turning to her cousin. "Is it beautiful?"

It had taken four hours, two hot chocolates, a dozen Christmas cookies, and all of her patience and careful attention to detail, but the Christmas tree had slowly been transformed from an ordinary silver fir into a beautiful work of art – at least, that's what she wanted to believe.

She tilted her head to the side, as if to inspect the tree from a slightly different angle. Strands of her long dark hair fell loose from her ponytail and into her hazel eyes as she did so. Enrique opened one powder blue eye to look from her to the tree and back again.

"Why are there no decorations on the top half of the tree?" he asked after a moment.

Steph's cheeks flushed red. "Because I can't reach that high," she admitted, throwing a pleading look in his direction. Caesar gave a bark of amusement.

Enrique rolled his eyes and got to his feet. "Give me some tinsel, would you," he muttered.

"Thanks, Enrique." She handed him a strand of tinsel which he proceeded to hang on the tree where she'd been unable to reach.

"Have you finished addressing the invites for the New Year's Party?" he asked her.

She nodded and hung another decoration on the tree. Christmas was one of the few times in the year when Steph was separated from her teammates, who at the present time, were scattered across the globe, visiting their families for the Christmas break.

Tyson, Daichi and Ray were in Japan with Tyson's brother, Hiro and his wife, Daisy. Max had gone back to America to spend time with his mom. Kai and Tala had gone home to Russia to visit their sisters, Riikka and Mia, and Steph and Enrique's younger cousin, Becky, was currently jetting around the world on a trip with her parents.

Everyone had been invited to the New Year's Party and no self-respecting person would consider not attending a party held by one of the Tornatore family members. The Majestics, the Bladebreakers, the All Starz, the White Tigers, F Dynasty, Barthez Battallion, Justice Five, the Blitzkrieg Boys and the Saint Shields had all been invited, along with a number of Steph and Enrique's classmates from Bakuten Academy.

"I just have to put them in the envelopes," Steph said, brushing her hair out of her eyes. It had grown quite long over the break and she hadn't gotten around to getting it cut.

"Have you invited Matt?"

Steph nearly dropped the crystal bell she had been attempting to hang on the tree. Placing it safely on a lower branch, she looked up and fixed her cousin with a sharp stare. "Why would I invite Matt?" she asked him.

It was no secret that Matt Ishida was one of the most sought after boys in the senior year at Bakuten Academy, the school that Enrique and Steph attended. Tall, though somewhat skinny, with dirty blonde hair and mysterious dark sapphire eyes, he was the lead singer of the school band, the Teenage Wolves. His carefree nature and 'too cool' attitude always had the attention of the girls in their year. More importantly, Matt was one of her childhood friends, and Steph would rather be locked in a cage with a pride of lions than admit she'd had a crush on him since she was eight years old.

Enrique gave her a sheepish grin and ducked behind the Christmas tree. "Well, you guys are friends right?"

"Yeah, but I don't think he'd come," she said, hanging another, less breakable ornament on the tree.

Enrique, having decided she wasn't going to bite his head off at the suggestion, peered out from behind a reindeer hanging on the tree. "What makes you say that?" he asked.

Steph shrugged her shoulders. "Wouldn't he spend New Year's Eve with his girlfriend?" she guessed. This statement earned a compassionate, canine sigh from Caesar.

"You won't find out unless you invite him, will you?" Enrique reminded her. "The worst he could do is say 'no'."

Steph raised an eyebrow at her cousin. "That has to be one of the most mature things I think I've ever heard come out of your mouth." Enrique didn't often say things that were worth paying much attention to. Usually he liked to talk about fast cars, cute girls and his one true love, the Italian Football team.

Giving up on the tree – the lower part was heavily over decorated by now – she returned her attention to the stack of invitations on the coffee table in front of the fireplace.

"Is Julia coming?" Enrique asked, his expression eager.

Steph nodded and handed up the invite addressed to the Fernandez Twins. Enrique positively beamed. It was so obvious that he liked her that it would have been considered sweet if he didn't keep trying to deny it by going out with every girl on the cheerleading squad.

She folded the last of the invites and addressed the envelopes whilst Enrique finished decorating the tree. They may not get along all the time, but Steph had to admit to herself, she and her cousin made a pretty good team, when they weren't fighting over who got to put the star on the tree. (Enrique insisted he should be the one to place the star on the tree since he was the only boy in the family – and he was taller.)

As she sealed each of the envelopes with a gold star , Steph wondered briefly what her teammates would be doing. Hilary would probably be asleep, she realised, as Japan was quite a few hours ahead of Rome. Moscow, however, was only a couple of hours ahead of Rome and she briefly contemplated making a call to Tala, but then she remembered that Riikka had planned on getting their Christmas tree today and she had a sneaking suspicion that her red-headed friend would be in a pretty foul mood afterwards – he wasn't exactly the most cheery person around the holidays.

She finished sealing the envelopes and double checked them to ensure she had used enough stamps on each of the envelopes to mail them across the world. Then, together with Enrique and Caesar, she walked down to the nearest post box and mailed them off.

"You know, bella," Enrique said, putting his arm around his cousin's shoulder as they walked home together in the bitter cold and Caesar splashed in the puddles. "I think it's going to be a beautiful Christmas."

_It's the most wonderful time of the year__  
__There'll be much mistltoeing__  
__And hearts will be glowing__  
__When love ones are near__  
__It's the most wonderful time of the year_

* * *

**Kai and Mia Hiwatari, Tala and Riikka Valkov,**

**Moscow, Russia.**

"What about this one?" Tala Valkov asked, pausing in front of one of the pine trees that were growing at the Tree Farm.

It was a typical December afternoon in Moscow. Typical minus 5 degrees Celsius, mostly cloudy and with a chance of snow showers. The perfect sort of day to curl up by the fireplace and finish his Call of Duty game.

But instead of sitting by the fireplace playing his Xbox, he was freezing his fingers off in the bitter cold whilst his twin sister deliberated over a bunch of pine trees, all of which, in his opinion, looked the same.

"The tree I picked had more leaves," Riikka grumbled.

Tala groaned and slapped his hand to his forehead in frustration. "Are you trying to be difficult?" he demanded.

Tala wasn't a very festive person. Despite having posed as an Abbott, Tala highly doubted that Boris had been a very religious man, let alone that he would ever have allowed them to celebrate Christmas. Tala was only too happy to treat the holidays with the same kind of disregard. His sister, on the other hand, seemed to have other ideas.

The days spent in Balkov Abbey were long behind them, and this year, Tala would be spending Christmas at his best friend's estate. Kai Hiwatari had graciously allowed his younger sister to host a Christmas Party for their team. Now, normally, Tala would have had many objections to this, and he would have voiced them very loudly, in a very Tala-like manner (with lots of not so nice words included in his speech) but there was something about the youngest Hiwatari that he couldn't say no to, that, and the fact that his sister would probably beat him up again.

Riikka brushed back the two strands of hair that had fallen into her face. Like her brother, she too had two strands of hair that always hung over her face. "I'm just saying that there isn't enough leaves on this tree for all the decorations I brought."

Tala bit his lip. _Just how many Christmas decorations had she brought? _"What is it with you and Christmas trees?" he asked her. "This one's too skinny, that one's too short, the one over there looks better, this one isn't green enough and now you're saying that this one– " he jabbed his thumb towards the tree in question, "doesn't have any leaves."

Riikka gave her brother an apologetic look, breathing into her hands and rubbing them together in a vain effort to keep warm. She knew she was being stubborn, and stretching her brother's patience thin, but this was their first Christmas together in over five years, she wanted it to be perfect.

"I didn't say it didn't have _any_ – I just said it didn't have enough," she replied calmly.

Tala ran his hand through his hair in frustration but was prevented from saying anything more by Mia's outburst of "Hey guys! What about this one?"

Riikka and Tala both spun around to investigate. The younger Hiwatari sibling was standing a little over five meters from them, her long blonde hair falling over her face as she pointed to a nearby tree.

The tree in question was tall. Its leaves were a bright Christmas green colour and its branches were strong and spread out in all directions. It wasn't skinny, and it had plenty of leaves. It was the perfect Christmas tree, at least in Riikka's eyes. To Tala, it just looked like any old pine tree.

Kai was standing by the tree with his axe, ready to begin chopping. Their teammate, Spencer stood on the other side. It was quite rare to find a living object taller than Spencer, unless you were a member of the zoo, but this tree had managed it, dwarfing the tallest Russian by a head and a half.

"Wow!" Riikka exclaimed. "That's perfect Mia!" She ran up to the pine tree and threw her arms around its middle.

"Don't you think it's a bit," Tala struggled to find the right word. "Big?"

"She's finally decided on a tree that she likes, let's not argue with that," Kai muttered. Spencer grumbled in agreement. Both boys looked as though they'd very much like to be any place else than the Christmas Tree Farm.

"Oi! Standing around won't get this Christmas tree cut!" Riikka snapped. "Get your lazy ass over here, Tala!"

"No wonder Kai's always in such a foul mood around Christmas," Tala grumbled as he picked up the spare axe.

"_There'll be parties for hosting__, m__arshmallows for toasting__ a__nd caroling out in the snow,"_ Riikka sang as she led the way back to the Hiwatari Estate with Mia whilst Spencer, Kai and Tala carried the tree. "Hurry up boys, we're going to be late."

Tala scowled. "Yeah right. I don't see her helping us carry this ten foot _pine_ _tree!_" he said loudly, emphasising the words 'pine' and 'tree'.

"Less talk, more walking," Riikka ordered.

"If I didn't have a tree in my hands, so help me I'd – " Tala grumbled. Spencer shot him a silencing glare from his position further down the tree.

_There'll be scary ghost stories__  
__And tales of the glories of__  
__Christmases long, long ago_

_It's the most wonderful time of the year__  
__There'll be much mistletoeing__  
__And hearts will be glowing__  
__When love ones are near__  
__It's the most wonderful time__  
__It's the most wonderful time of the year

* * *

_

HI again all. I never got to finish this story last year, so I'm going to try again this year. Happy Holidays everyone - Christmas is nearly here!

for Christmas, all I want is you (erhem... I mean your reviews =] )


	2. December 20th

**The Twelve Days of Christmas**

**Summary:** It's Christmas time, a holiday shared by beybladers from around the world. Max is in America with Judy and hopes to fit in with the All Starz while Kai is in Russia with the Blitzkrieg Boys avoiding any mention of the word 'Christmas'. Tyson and Daichi seem to do more arguing than decorating and Enrique is in Rome, doing as Enrique does, planning the biggest New Year's Party any of the beybladers have ever seen.

3 continents, 5 teams, many gifts, carols, holidays cheers, mistletoe, a little romance and twelve days of Christmas.

**Characters: **Tyson, Hilary, Max, Ray, Daichi, Hiro, Kenny, Mariah, Enrique, Julia, Oliver, Kai, Tala, Brooklyn, OC, OC and more.

**Pairings:** To tell you know would be to give away the ending... and apparently it's not a good idea to do that.

**Christmas Carol:** It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

* * *

**December 20**

_It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ev'rywhere you go;__Take a look in the five-and-ten, glistening once again__ w__ith candy canes and silver lanes aglow._

**The Granger Household**

**Bakuten, Japan**

On the morning of the 20th of December, the Granger dojo was buzzing with excitement. Hilary and Mariah had gone out for the day, leaving Tyson and Kenny in charge of decorating the Christmas tree whilst Daisy and Ray baked cookies for Christmas day. 

"If you don't have the tree decorated by the time I get back Tyson, I'll paint Dragoon pink," had been Hilary's warning as she'd left, leaving the three boys in the living room with boxes upon boxes of Christmas decorations.

"We have to put the lights on the tree first," Kenny told them.

"I think Daichi should do it," Tyson said, helping himself to one of the mugs of hot cocoa.

Daichi glared at him. "No way, if I have to do it, Tyson, you have to too," he said, picking up the tangled strand of lights and rattling them in Tyson's face.

Kenny glowered at Tyson. "Don't be so lazy Tyson, help him," he scolded, snatching the mug from his hands.

"Tyson, this is a team effort," Hiro looked up from his copy of the morning paper. "Everyone has to help out, including the World Champion."

Pouting slightly, Tyson got to his feet and took the other end of the lights and began to untangle it. The lights made small clinking sounds as the two boys struggled to uncoil the lights, but only succeeded in tangling the other person's end, making the whole thing worse.

Kenny sighed and shook his head in embarrassment as he watched for ten whole minutes as Tyson and Daichi bungled around, unsuccessfully attempting to untangle the lights.

"Tyson, you're messing up my end all the time," Daichi protested, yanking the lights away.

"Zip it Daichi, I know what I'm doing," was the World Champ's retort as he tugged on the electrical cable which was wrapped around the stump of the tree.

"Guys, lookout," Kenny exclaimed as the tree swayed dangerously to the left, then to the right, before crashing to the ground.

"Look what you did Daichi!"

"It wasn't my fault!"

"I can't take this," Kenny muttered, pulling his glasses off his face and cleaning them, as though he hoped that maybe, just maybe, his eyesight was playing tricks on him. When he replaced them, however, Tyson and Daichi were still arguing and their Christmas tree was on the floor.

Kenny sighed. It was going to be a very long day.

_It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas,__ t__oys in ev'ry store,__ b__ut the prettiest sight to see is the holly that will be__ o__n your own front door._

**

* * *

**

**Steph Summers and Julia Fernandez**

**Rome, Italy.**

"With candy canes and silver lanes aglow..." Julia sang along to the Christmas carols as she danced around Santa's Workshop, stocking the shelves with toys. "Aww, Steph, you look so cute."

The Italian girl looked down with dismay at what she was wearing. A Christmas red top with a green collar, a short green skirt, red and white Christmas stockings and, to her horror, elf shoes. She was being tortured.

"Why did I let you talk me into this?" she muttered under her breath.

It had been Julia's idea to get a job over the holiday break. She'd needed the extra cash for Christmas gifts and convinced Steph that it would be an exciting, new experience for the both of them – and on the plus side, they'd both have enough money for all their Christmas gifts.

Steph already had all her presents planned out; a bottle of expensive cologne for Enrique in the gift shop just down the road, a beautiful charm bracelet for her cousin Becky, perfume for Riikka and Mia, a new organiser for Hilary, and Xbox games for Tyson, Daichi and Max.

"Your cousin's over there," Julia told her, pointing towards the shop window, outside of which Enrique was standing, waving to get Steph's attention.

"If he's brought a camera with him, I'll kill him," Steph muttered through gritted teeth, tugging her elf skirt down so it covered her knees.

"Stop fidgeting, you look fine," Julia told her, giving her a gentle shove. "Go see what he wants."

Steph sighed to herself and made her way through the crowded store towards Enrique. "What is it?" she asked him impatiently, poking her head out of the shop window.

The blonde grinned playfully at her. "I need a favour," he said.

"Should have known," Steph muttered to herself. "What do you want?"

"Can you ask Julia if she'd have lunch with me on her break?"

Steph raised a suspicious eyebrow at her cousin. This was what she would classify as an interesting development. "As in a date?"

Enrique raised a finger to his lips. "Shh! Keep your voice down," he said, casting a hasty look over his shoulder, as if he thought he was being followed. "Look, it's not a date – just say... it's just lunch."

Steph was pretty sure if she raised her eyebrow any higher, it would end up lost in her hair. "Just lunch? Enrique, you don't do _just_ lunch. You do lunch, then you invite them to go sailing into the sunset on your yacht with champagne and chocolates. Oh, and then you say you'll call her, but you won't and then next week, it'll be a different girl," she told him matter-of-factly.

He had the audacity to look hurt. "You make me sound like a thirty-something-year-old womaniser," he exclaimed, feigning hurt. When she didn't fall for it, he gave in. "Okay, maybe that's a pretty accurate description of what I do," he admitted. "But this is different."

She fixed him with an unimpressed stare. "How is this different?" she asked him.

"It's different because it's Julia we're talking about," he told her. "You know how I feel about her." His powder blue eyes were pleading, wide with that annoying, yet irresistible puppy dog look, the look he reserved for when he really, really wanted something.

"Please?" he begged. "I'll buy you that CD you wanted."

Steph rolled her eyes. "Fine," she said, giving in. "But if you screw this up, I am going to pound you."

"What did he want?" Julia asked her as she slammed the window shut and went back to stocking the shelves with Christmas gnomes. How gnomes had managed to weasel their way into the Christmas tradition was something Steph would probably never understand.

"He wanted to know if you'd have lunch with him," Steph said causally, fighting with a gnome that threatened to fall over. She seriously feared a domino effect was only moments away.

Julia's expression was curious. "He does?" A tiny spark of excitement lit up her expression.

Steph smiled. "Yeah. I'll let you to take your break first today?" she offered.

_A pair of hopalong boots and a pistol that shoots__ i__s the wish of Barney and Ben;__Dolls that will talk and will go for a walk__ i__s the hope of Janice and Jen;__And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again._

**

* * *

**

**Riikka Valkov, Mia Hiwatari and the Blitzkrieg Boys**

**Moscow, Russia**

"Almost got it..." Riikka muttered to herself as she reached higher up, attempting to put the star on top of their Christmas tree.

"Riikka, do you need any help?" Mia asked, eying the makeshift stepladder that swayed dangerously as Riikka climbed higher, ignoring the warning label that advised the user not to climb all the way to the top step.

"No, I'm fine Mia," Riikka insisted. The red haired Russian was determined that this Christmas tree wouldn't get the better of her. Stretching as much as her arms would reach, she stuffed the star on the top branch of the tree.

"AHA! Got ya!" she yelled, making the ladder shudder.

Mia reached out a hand to steady the ladder, her emerald eyes wide with concern for her best friend. When Riikka set her mind on something, there was no stopping her. "Riik, I'm not sure that ladder's very safe."

Riikka merely grinned cheerfully at Mia and allowed the blonde girl to help her down the step ladder. Once she had her feet firmly planted on solid ground, she looked back at the tree triumphantly. "Take that, stupid tree!"

But the tree didn't want to take that, it seemed. The star swayed pathetically before tumbling to the floor.

Riikka groaned. "Damn it, I give up," she muttered. "Bryan, you do it."

The lavender haired boy sitting cross legged on the carpet looked up. "Do what?" Bryan Kuznetzov asked. He stared at the star with distaste. "No way, I'm not in on this Christmas thing," he said. "Make Tala do it."

Tala sat beside the coffee table, silently cursing the wrapping paper that he'd laid out before him. "Do I have a sign on me that says personal servant?" he demanded, "Your own personal slave?"

"Just get off your butt and help us," Riikka snapped.

Tala smirked and held up the ribbon he was holding. "You know, as much as I'd love to help you," he said, with all the sarcasm he could muster. "If I don't have this presents wrapped and mailed by tonight, I'm screwed. Steph will kill me if her present isn't there on Christmas Day."

Mia giggled, but Riikka glared at her brother. Tala held up his hands in defence. "Hey, if you can't reach, what makes you think I can? Ask one of the taller guys."

Riikka rolled her eyes and looked around for someone else to help her. In the other corner of the room, Ian was playing Solitaire on a small round table while slowly chomping his way through a pile of chocolate santas. Ian could barely reach over the kitchen counter; he'd be no help to her and Spencer was out for the day.

Kai was standing on a ladder, grudgingly hanging tinsel from the ceiling to please his little sister, though Riikka suspected the thought of hanging one of his teammates with the tinsel had crossed his mind more than once.

With her teammates preoccupied, that left only one person to help her – if she could find him. Riikka looked around. "Hey, where's Brooklyn?"

"Dunno," Tala replied, fumbling with his wrapping paper. "Maybe Kai hung him up on the windowsill with the tinsel." He glared down at the wrapping paper, which seemed to fold everyway but the way he wanted it to.

Both girls giggled. "Oh as if he could do that," Riikka said, brandishing the tinsel at her brother, who recoiled as though the festive decoration was going to bite him.

"Don't set your hopes too high, Valkov."

Riikka spun around. "There you are," she said brightly. "I need your help ... wait, what are those?" Riikka asked, eyeing the packages in his arms.

Brooklyn gave her a goofy grin. "Why they're presents of course," he said, shaking one of the boxes so that Riikka could hear a small rattling coming from inside it.

"They arrived from Italy this morning. It looks like Steph got an early start on her presents." He looked over at Tala expectantly. "You should probably send those today if you want them to be there on Christmas day," he said.

"Who invited Mr. Beyblading Prodigy to spend Christmas with us anyway?" Tala grumbled so only Bryan could hear. "And remind me to murder them ... slowly and painfully."

Bryan snorted. "Your sister invited him," he reminded his captain. "Said no one should be alone on Christmas."

Tala let out a groan and buried his face into the wrapping paper. Mia, slightly alarmed by his reaction, patted his head awkwardly as Brooklyn and Riikka arranged the presents under the tree.

"What do you need help with?" Brooklyn asked her when they'd finished.

"She needs you to put the star on the tree because Tala's too short to reach," Ian said, not bothering to look up from his game of solitaire.

Brooklyn raised an eyebrow at him. The midget could barely reach to whack Tala on the head, let alone put a star on top of a Christmas tree himself, so he wasn't really in the place to throw short jokes around.

Tala glared over at him indignantly. "That's because Riikka chose the biggest bloody tree in the farm and none of us can reach the top," he grumbled.

Riikka childishly poked her tongue out at her brother. "Aww, don't mind Tala," she said. "He's just being a grinch."

Brooklyn chuckled. "Where's the star?" he asked.

Riikka beamed at him, handing him the sparkling gold star. She blushed crimson as Brooklyn's pale fingers brushed hers as he took it from her and placed on top of the tree.

"Is that okay?" he asked her.

"It's perfect Brooklyn, thank you."

"What's with those two?" Kai asked as he joined Mia and Bryan on the sofa, having finished hanging tinsel by the windows. He eyed Brooklyn with disapproval.

"I think they make a cute couple," Mia said quietly so that the two people in question couldn't hear. She had that dreamy look in her emerald green eyes that Kai recognised as a warning sign that his sister was getting very mischievous ideas in her head.

Tala craned his neck to look up at her with an expression of pure horror. "Are you insane?" Then he looked to Kai. "Did someone drop her on her head as a baby?" he asked.

Mia clipped him behind the ears, making him protest loudly. "Oh shh, you," she reprimanded. "I was only joking; besides, it's Kai that was dropped on his head when he was a baby."

Bryan and Tala both snorted, suppressing their laughter while Kai shot an annoyed look in his sister's direction. Laughing merrily, Mia slipped off the couch and skipped into the kitchen, singing "_But the prettiest sight to see is the holly that will be on your own front door."_

Tala scowled, glaring after her. Bryan raised an eyebrow at him. "What's your problem?" he asked.

"Christmas," Tala grumbled. "It's so merry, and cheerful."

Kai snorted. "Grinch," he muttered

_It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas__Ev'rywhere you go;__There's a tree in the Grand Hotel, one in the park as well,__ t__he sturdy kind that doesn't mind the snow._

**

* * *

**

**Tyson Granger, Daichi Sumeragi and Kenny, aka, the Chief.**

**Bakuten, Japan. **

"Well," Tyson said with a grin. "I think it's coming along nicely."

After they had fixed the tree and gotten it standing again, Hiro and Ray had untangled the lights and put them on the tree. Then, together, they had successfully wrapped the tinsel around the tree after untangling Daichi, who somehow had gotten tangled between Kenny and Tyson's roll of tinsel.

Daichi looked up at the tree. "Tyson, there are no decorations on your side of the tree," he said.

"Shut up pipsqueak," Tyson snapped, shoving the younger boy roughly. Daichi stumbled and lost his footing. He reached out a hand, catching a tree branch between his fingers as he fell. The tree swayed dangerously, tilting on its stand before falling to the ground on top of Daichi.

Kenny covered his face with his hands. "Tyson!" he exclaimed.

Tyson grinned sheepishly. "Hehe," he said. "Guess we should've got a sturdier tree."

Hiro fixed his brother with an unimpressed stare. Ray glowered at him.

"Maybe we should take a break," Daichi suggested, just as one of the baubles rolled off the tree and landed on his head with a muffled thump.

"Ow!"

_It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas;__Soon the bells will start,__And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing__ r__ight within your heart._

**

* * *

**

**Steph Summers and Julia Fernandez**

**Rome, Italy**

Julia returned to Santa's Workshop with a spring in her step. "I'm back," she announced happily.

"How'd it go, Jules?" Steph asked as she gathered her belongings together. The half slice of toast she'd devoured on her way to work this morning had done very little to appease her appetite, but Enrique had failed to inform their housekeeper, Piddlesworth, that he'd finished the last of the Corn Flakes the day before.

Julia giggled. "That would be telling," she said smartly.

"That's evil?" Steph grumbled to herself as she pulled on her jacket and headed out the door for her lunch break.

The weather was cool and immediately brought a flush to her cheeks when she stepped outside. She wished Enrique had hung around for her lunch break too. While Rome was a beautiful city, it wasn't much fun enjoying it on your own in the bitter cold.

"If it's this cold, there should be snow, otherwise it's just not fun."

As she made her way to her favourite park, where she, Enrique and Becky had bey-battled each other as a kid, she once again thought of her friends in different parts of the world. Had Tala, Hilary and Max all gotten her invitations? How were the beybladers on other teams spending their Christmases? She'd heard Brooklyn was in Russia – Tala and Kai couldn't be too happy about that. Ming Ming was touring for Christmas, but she'd promised to make it to the New Years' Party.

She sighed, tugged off her little elf hat and sat down on the end of the park bench. Then, reaching into her pocket for her cell phone, she dialled the area code for Moscow, Russia.

"I've already mailed your present to you it's too late to demand a giant life-sized Care Bear," Tala's voice was almost drowned out by the noise of a Christmas carol playing in the background.

"How did you know I wanted a life-sized Care Bear?" she asked.

"Because you're Steph, and you always ask for ridiculous things like that," her best friend replied. The music in the background faded away as a door slammed. "This is driving me insane," he grumbled.

Steph couldn't help but laugh. "It can't be that bad," she said.

"She invited Brooklyn."

Steph immediately felt a swell of sympathy for her best friend. As much as she adored Brooklyn, the know-all nature could get a little over bearing. But she had another reason for calling. "Have you spoken to Kai about what we talked about yet?"

A brief silence followed her question in which she heard Tala close yet another door. When he spoke again, his voice had dropped several decibels. "Not yet," he hissed.

"You can't put it off forever," Steph said pointedly, brushing away a stray leaf that had blown onto her skirt.

"Yeah, well I haven't found a moment when he's not two meters away from something that he could potentially kill me with," Tala answered. "I bet it never occurred to you how dangerous tinsel could be, and yet they still allow it as carry-on baggage."

Steph laughed. "I can just imagine it, Japanese-Russian beyblading champion strangles best friend with tinsel," she joked.

"I'm glad you think it's funny," Tala said dryly. "Anyway, I gotta go, it smells like Mia's burning something's in the kitchen." The line cut off without so much as a goodbye, but that was Tala.

Laughing quietly to herself, Steph snapped her phone shut and reached down to slip it back into her pocket, feeling slightly sorry for the entire Hiwatari household.

"You look pretty cute as an elf," a voice behind her said.

She jumped with fright at the sound, the purple electronic device slipping from her fingers. Just as she was thinking she'd have to buy her third cell phone in less than a month (the last one went through the rinse cycle of the washing machine), a hand reached out to catch it mid fall.

"Shoot," she muttered under her breath, turning around, whether to thank the stranger, or to berate him for startling her, she hadn't decided yet.

When she looked up at him, however, her voice died in her throat. She frowned, shaking her head slightly. "I'm hallucinating," she told herself.

He couldn't possibly be here; she was in Italy for goodness sake. Nine thousand, eight hundred and sixty four kilometres and 7 time zones away from Japan to be precise.

So what was Matt, her least favourite person at this very moment (when she was wearing an embarrassingly short skirt and elf shoes) doing standing before her?

But as her luck would have it, there he was, with his usual arrogant, make you weak at the knees grin on his face. His sandy blonde hair was its usual stylish mess and he was wearing black jeans, torn at the knees, and a fitting black turtle neck beneath his winter coat.

A smile played on his lips as he looked down at her. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

_Startle me?_ Steph thought, eyeing him suspiciously. _You're supposed to be in Japan where I left you!_ But she didn't say this. Instead, she just looked up at him with a stupid, wide eyed expression on her face. "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Travelling," he said. "I don't believe in Christmas, remember."

Matt's parents had divorced when he was a kid and his only brother had gone to live with their mom. His dad worked a lot of hours at the TV station, so Matt was by himself a lot. His quiet, brooding personality had fitted in well with Kai and Tala, so much so that Steph was pretty sure they could be considered friends.

"You're in Rome for Christmas?" she asked, not wanting to get her hopes up.

He nodded. "I was on my way to Moscow actually, Mia invited me."

"Rome isn't really on the way to Russia," she pointed out.

He grinned. "Ok, so maybe I had a better offer," he told her.

A better offer? What could be better than spending Christmas on the Hiwatari Estate. She'd spent her last Christmas there with her team. Moscow was beautiful at Christmas time – it even snowed there, and Kai's estate was even more beautiful decked with holly and garland. Besides, Kai and Tala were his friends – and she didn't think he had any friends here in Rome, did he?

He was looking her up and down now, a small smile playing on his lips. She raised an eyebrow at him. "What?"

He chuckled. "Nothing," he said unconvincingly. "It's just; you really do look like an elf."

She pouted, crossing her arms over her chest and turning up her nose in a comical fashion that, instead of making him feel slightly remorseful, made him laugh even harder, a laugh so sincere that she found herself laughing along with him. They sat together for a long minute, both laughing before he got to his feet, holding out his hand to help her to her feet.

"Do you want to get some lunch?" he asked her.

She smiled. Lunch with Matt sounded a lot better than spending her lunch break alone outside in a silly elf costume. "Sure."

_It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ev'rywhere you go;__Take a look in the five-and-ten, glistening once again__ w__ith candy canes and silver lanes aglow._

**

* * *

**

**Tate Household,**

**NY, America**

"It's good to be home," Max Tate announced as he entered his mother's apartment, dragging his suitcase behind him. Sighing happily to himself, he looked around at his surroundings. 

The living room had been decorated with holly and garland, and a large, evergreen tree had been set in the corner of the living room, shiny baubles and tinsel glistening in the light from the fireplace.

"Just as I remember it," Max muttered to himself, rolling his suitcase into the corner and picking up a photo frame on the mantel piece. A five year old version of himself, and a much younger looking version of his mother and father smiled back at him.

"Maxy!"

Max spun around. Judy Tate stood in the doorway to the kitchen, her blonde hair held back off her face by a purple band and her ocean blue eyes wide with delight as she held out her arms for her son.

"Mom!" Max exclaimed, leaping over the couch and into his mother's arms.

"Aww Max! I'm so glad you're home," Judy said, hugging her son.

"Where's everyone else?" Max asked, looking around. "Rick, Emily and Michael, I thought they were all in New York for Christmas."

As if on cue, the front door opened with a loud bang and the four All Starz, Eddy, Emily, Rick and team captain Michael walked in.

"I get to play against you next Rick, we've got a score to settle," Eddy was saying.

"Loser has to buy pizza for everyone," Emily announced.

"Hey – look who it is!" Michael exclaimed. "Looks like the runt came home for Christmas."

Max, grinning from ear to ear, wriggled free of his mothers embrace. "It's good to see you too, Michael."

The captain merely shrugged, threw himself on the sofa and switched on the Xbox. Emily gave him a welcoming hug before joining her captain and Eddy on the couch.

Max sighed. His friendship was still fresh with the All Starz, having only just earned their respect after bringing their team to the semi-finals the year before. Being friends with Tyson had been easy, it was like breathing, you didn't even know you were doing it – Kenny had taken a little longer to come around, and Steph had adored him from the day he'd saved that puppy. Still, Max hoped that the being friends with the All Starz would soon become as natural as his friendship with the Bladebreakers.

"Hey, are you going to stand there all day?" Rick, the toughest of the All Starz asked him. He took up an entire couch on his own, stretched out with an Xbox controller in his hand.

"Yeah, last one on the couch buys the pizza," Eddy said.

Max grinned. It wasn't Christmas with the G Revolutions, or with his dad, but it was Christmas none the less.

_It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas,__ t__oys in ev'ry store,__ b__ut the prettiest sight to see is the holly that will be__ o__n your own front door._

* * *

**Granger Household,**

**Bakuten, Japan**

"I wonder if Tyson and Daichi finished decorating the Christmas tree yet," Mariah said as she and Hilary walked into the kitchen, followed by Ray, who'd earned the dubious job of carrying the bags.

"They've been at in the living room all day," Daisy told them as she pulled a tray of cookies out of the oven.

"It's taken them all day?" Mariah repeated. "What are they doing in there? Counting the branches or something?"

"With those boys," Hilary muttered. "Who knows what could happen. Boys!" she called out.

Tyson, Kenny and Daichi all poked their heads into the kitchen, grinning sheepishly.

"We finished the tree for you Hilary," Tyson said proudly as he stepped aside. "Come and see." With a weary glance in Daisy's direction, Hilary and Mariah followed the boys into the living room.

Their tree was, without a doubt, very festive. "It looks so pretty," Hilary cooed, clasping her hands together.

"It looks so Christmassy," Mariah said, her eyes sparkling.

"It looks like it's leaning over ... slightly," Ray.

Kenny frowned. "That's because Tyson and Daichi put more decorations on the left side of the tree than on the right," he piped up.

Daichi pouted, glaring at the tree. "Stupid tree," he muttered, kicking the stump of the tree.

Tyson's eyes widened. "No, Daichi don't!"

The tree swayed dangerously. Hilary covered her eyes with her hands and Mariah squealed as the tree came crashing down with a loud thump. A single bauble rolled across the living room floor.

"Daichi!"

_It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas;__Soon the bells will start,__And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing__ r__ight within your heart._

**

* * *

Another chapter revised. Sorry for the mistake in uploading Chapter 3 instead of replacing chapter one. Wont make the same mistake this time.**


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